“Gunter is truly unique in his field, as the ultimate triple threat: outstanding clinician, world-renowned teacher and author, and incredibly productive research scientist, highlighted by his pathfinding studies on the neuropathology of amblyopia.”

Douglas D. Koch, MD
ASCRS Member

Dr. Gunter K. von Noorden has been one of the preeminent leaders in ophthalmology and strabismus surgery for the past 40 years. Most recently, in 2010, he retired as distinguished emeritus professor at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. von Noorden began his career as a resident at the University of Iowa in 1957, which was followed by a fellowship at the University of Tuebingen Eye Clinic in Germany. He then returned to the University of Iowa, spending two years as an assistant professor of ophthalmology. In 1963, Dr. von Noorden became a professor at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1972, he moved to Houston, Texas to serve as a professor and director of the Ocular Motility Service at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Born in Germany in 1928, Dr. von Noorden’s family moved to Berlin in 1937. This had a profound impact on his life—exposing him to Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship and Nazi propaganda. Following his involvement in Battle of Berlin in 1945 and the end of WWII, Dr. von Noorden was determined to dedicate his life to healing others and worked his way through medical school at the Johann-Wolfgang Goethe University.

Dr. von Noorden is charter member and former president of the American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology (AAPOS), the International Strabismological Association (ISA), and the American Orthoptic Council (AOC). He also served as former president of the American Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).

He has published 310 scientific papers and is the author of 4 books, including Ocular Motility and Binocular Vision: Theory and Management of Strabismus. The book has been heralded as the “gold-standard text for ocular motility disorders for the past 30 years.” Dr. von Noorden has presented 21 named lectures worldwide and is the recipient of numerous awards. His awards include the Franceschetti Prize, the Proctor Award, the Bowman Medal, and the Jackson Memorial Lecture Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).